Offseason's Over: Regular Season Prediction Time

[OE32]

I figure Archie + PJ should be worth a protected first in a three-way deal.

I also think Ulis's development may push us to move Bledsoe in the offseason in a Dragic-type deal. We may also have to move Tyson if Alex looks as good as he looked in the scrimmage.

[LazarusLong]

Forgot to mention the two high draft choices.
Whatever palpable contribution they can provide is gravy. These guys are very young and raw, scouting reports be damned.

I can see Bender getting more time with the big club, and Chriss getting extended time in the Prescott Suns.
It's important that both get some minutes somewhere and play, rather than sitting for long stretches at the end of the Phoenix bench.

[carey]

I think they will probably take turns at the NAZ for the first half of the season.

[Indy]

I don't expect playoffs from this team. If they are competitive and interesting to watch, that's fine by me.
I think the coaching team of Watson and Triano could reap some dividends.

What I'd like to see:

* continued development by Booker, e.g., better defense.

* injury-free season for TJ so he can show what potential he has. That meets commitment to playing time for him by the coaching staff

* Len as center. He's not a power forward. Not. by. any. stretch. of. the. imagination.

* reasonable playing time for Ulis, if he can handle it. He's probably the best true pg on the team.

* bring Tucker back slowly and evaluate all the young guys in the mean time.

* management should see what it can get in usable assets for Tucker and Goodwin.

I agree with all of this.

Final record: 37-45.

I would too. And I think the team is capable of a .500 year, if they don't have any significant injuries to their starters (really mainly Bledsoe, Booker, Len and Dudley). But having a perfectly healthy season to get to 41 wins means they will likely be 10-15% below that. So I would go around 36. And as long as there is evidence of a system in place, that players buy into, and we see that progress DC/LL mentioned above, it will be a good year in my book.

This will be so weird being 2000 miles away from my team and not sitting in the arena...

[O_Gardino]

Solid take, Laz.

[pickle]

I don't want 30+ wins. I'd rather just throw the young guys into the fire and see what comes out. I want another high draft pick in this loaded draft. I hope we play Bledsoe/Knight enough that we can actually move one of them. I wouldn't take back any real contributors, just want a couple of more picks and maybe one or two Bo Outlaw types. I don't want to be in basketball purgatory anymore...

[SDC]

1) if miami doesnt trade away dragic, they will make the playoffs
2) spurs 4th seed in the west. (GSW, Clips, Houston 1 2 3)
3) would be disappointed if suns didnt make the playoffs this year. heads should roll.

[Superbone]

would be disappointed if suns didnt make the playoffs this year. heads should roll.

Crazy talk.

[O_Gardino]

I don't want 30+ wins. I'd rather just throw the young guys into the fire and see what comes out. I want another high draft pick in this loaded draft. I hope we play Bledsoe/Knight enough that we can actually move one of them. I wouldn't take back any real contributors, just want a couple of more picks and maybe one or two Bo Outlaw types. I don't want to be in basketball purgatory anymore...

Yeah, I tend to agree with this.

[O_Gardino]

Here's AZCentral's summery of the major sports rag's predictions:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/h ... /87573718/

Predictions range from 23-35, with one outlier saying we should compete for the playoffs.

[Nodack]

I hate making predictions. Like was said, injuries always are a big factor in any teams success or failure. Injuries were a big factor last year. A lot of people don't like Bledsoe around here but, I think he is very talented and him missing a big part of the season definitely hurt us. Knight being injured a lot actually helped Bookers developement and solidified Booker as a star on the team.

I am excited to see Booker and Bledsoe play together to see what kind of chemistry they have. I am interested to see if Knight can play the 6th man role on the team. He likes to be a scorer and that's what the 6th man role is. It's time for Len to take the on the starting role and let the old man Chandler come off the bench. I am excited to see the rookies of course.

I think if we stay relatively healthy we can't help but to be better than last season. We are ranked 27th. I think we will end up in the middle of the pack somewhere and just miss the playoffs if the injury bug doesn't hit us like last season. Big if, I know.

[In2ition]

Barring injuries, I think they increase their win total by double digits.

[OE32]

Revised Lists:

East
1. Cleveland
2. Toronto
3. Indiana
4. Boston
5. Detroit
6. Atlanta
7. New York
8. Chicago
9. Orlando
10. Washington
11. Charlotte
12. Miami
13. Milwaukee
14. Philadelphia
15. Brooklyn

West
1. Golden State
2. Houston
3. Utah
4. Oklahoma City
5. San Antonio
6. LA Clippers
7. Memphis
8. Minnesota
9. Phoenix
10. Portland
11. Dallas
12. Denver
13. Sacramento
14. LA Lakers
15. New Orleans

[ShelC]

From what I've seen in the preseason, I don't think we're better than Portland, Dallas, or the Lakers.

[Split T]

I agree with Portland, but what did you see in the Lakers and Mavs this preseason? Admittedly I didn't see any of their games, besides part of the suns-mavs game, but lakers went 3-5 and mavs are 0-7.

I think we could surprise a little bit this year, I'm not expecting playoffs, but 35 wins and maybe a 10 seed is doable. However, the west doesn't seem to have many basement dwellers this year. I imagine the lakers will struggle and I have no faith in the Kings, but I think anyone else could surprise. Pelicans might be a mess, but they do have Anthony Davis and did make the playoffs two years ago. I like the nuggets, twolves are on the rise. Mavs and Grizz could fall off, don't think they bottom out though.

[Hermen]

I don't usually do the predictions since it's a crapshoot (especially east 4 - 13 ) but here it goes:
East
CLE - BOS - TOR - WAS - IND - CHA - DET - ATL -|- ORL - NYK - CHI - MIL - MIA - BKL - PHI

West
GSW - LAC - SAS - POR - HOU - UTA - OKC - SAC -|- MEM - MIN - DEN - DAL - PHX - NOL - LAL

[O_Gardino]

Revised Lists:

West
1. Golden State
2. Houston
3. Utah
4. Oklahoma City
5. San Antonio
6. LA Clippers
7. Memphis
8. Minnesota
9. Phoenix
10. Portland
11. Dallas
12. Denver
13. Sacramento
14. LA Lakers
15. New Orleans

Wow, the Spurs at #5. Did they have a coaching change I'm not aware of? Houston and OKC have one star each and Utah doesn't have any, but they do better than the Spurs? I just don't see how the Spurs could lose 20ish more games than last season.

[In2ition]

It's hard for me to have any belief that SAC will make the playoffs.

[Split T]

West
1. Warriors
2. Clippers
3. Spurs
4. Rockets
5. Blazers
6. Jazz
7. Thunder
8. Nuggets
9. Grizzlies
10. TWolves
11. Mavs
12. Suns
13. Pelicans
14. Kings
15. Lakers
East
1. Cavs
2. Celtics
3. Raptors
4. Pacers
5. Pistons
6. Hawks
7. Hornets
8. Wizards
9. Bucks
10. Knicks
11. Bulls
12. Magic
13. Heat
14. 76ers
15. Nets

[Superbone]

...with one outlier saying we should compete for the playoffs.

SDC doesn't count.